Tracks
by emmathecharming
Summary: Fitz and Simmons are traveling out of the city, Jemma to see her brother and his wife and Fitz to see his friend. They both have important plans but when the weather decides to interfere with their plans, they're forced to turn to each other for help and reassurance. Will their plans turn out alright or will the change in events end up leading to something even more important?
Jemma pulls her book out of her bag and settles herself more comfortably into her chair. It is not an easy task as, in her experience, seats on public transportation are never comfortable, with trains being the worst. It's days like this one that make her regret her decision to not keep her car when she moved into the city. It would make these last minute trips out of town far more pleasant.

A few moments after she starts reading, she hears a commotion coming from the front of the car. The noise draws her attention and she watches as the cause enters the train car. A short, distracted looking man extricates his briefcase from the door that had closed behind him, a few mumbled curses falling from his mouth in the process.

Jemma quickly looks around the car as the man begins to walk down the aisle between the seats. The only open seat she can see is the one her things are sitting in. She closes her long-forgotten book and she sighs as she quietly rushes to collect the rest of her things and move them to sit beside her feet.

"Thanks," Jemma hears a soft Scottish voice say. She looks up and her suspicion that it belongs to the attention-grabbing stranger is confirmed.

"Of course," Jemma says through a smile that is far from genuine, her hopes of a quiet, relaxing trip dashed.

The man places his briefcase in his seat before reaching up to force his larger bag and his still snow-spotted coat into the already crowded overhead storage space. He pulls a newspaper from his briefcase before sliding it beneath his seat and settling in.

They sit in silence for a few minutes after the train finally departs and Jemma begins to think that perhaps she judged this stranger too harshly. That is until he speaks again.

"I'm Fitz, by the way."

Jemma looks up from her reading to see not only a shy smile gracing the man's face but also the fact that he has offered her his hand to shake.

"Oh…" she rushes to respond after her moment spent looking him over. "I'm Jemma," she finishes, reaching out to shake his hand.

They sit there like that for a few moments, their hands still intertwined but neither one sure how to proceed. It is Jemma that breaks the silence this time.

"Fitz, huh? That's not a particularly common first name, is it?" It is the first thing she can think to say.

"Well no. I don't guess it is," he fumbles, finally releasing her hand. "And it's not actually. My first name I mean. It's my last name but I've never much liked my first name so I've just gone by Fitz."

"I see," Jemma smiles before returning her attention back to her once again forgotten book.

This time, the silence between them lasts longer. Neither of them speaking until they are both jolted from their respective books as the train quickly screeches to a sudden stop.

Jemma rights herself and deposits her book in the top of her purse before twisting in her seat to look out the window.

"No, no, no, no, _no_ ," Jemma frets, growing louder with each word. "This cannot be happening. Not today, not now."

Jemma turns back to look at Fitz but instead finds his seat empty. "Great. Not only are we stuck but now I'm talking to myself." Jemma huffs and moves her hands to rest on the sides of her neck as she forces herself to breathe as slowly as she can.

Her heart picks up pace again when she sees Fitz step back through the door at the front of the car.

"Did you find out anything?" Jemma blurts before Fitz can even sit down.

"Only that we won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"No no _no_. Tell me you didn't just say what I think you said," Jemma cries, resting her head in her hands.

"What's wrong? Where were you headed?"

"My brother's wife is having a baby, quite possibly at this very moment, and I am _supposed_ to be there."

"You don't say?" Fitz laughs quietly.

"What's so funny?" Jemma snaps, her head shooting up so she can meet his eyes.

"Well I just thought it was interesting that you're traveling for that reason since I'm also on my way to see a friend in just the same situation."

"Well that is interesting, however it does not really make me feel any better about the fact that I could be missing the birth of my niece right now."

"I'm sorry. I know it doesn't really help. I just know how frustrated I feel and it's not even my sister or anything and so I just wanted to lighten the mood but I didn't really know what to say."

"I know you were just trying to help. I'm sorry for snapping like that. I'm just-"

"I know. I get it," Fitz interrupts and they sit there for a moment looking at each other, their brains working away as they try to come up with a plan.

A loud voice comes over the speakers spread throughout the car and Jemma and Fitz both look up as if the owner of the voice is sitting on the ceiling and not just the speakers. "Ok folks, we have some news. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but it's going to be a while until we get moving again. It seems this area got more snow than the city did and the snow on the hill you can see on the left side of the train has collapsed and covered the tracks ahead of the train. We'll be here until the plow can come and clear it."

"Please tell me I'm dreaming. Please, someone, tell me I'm dreaming," Jemma exclaims, turning back to look expectantly at Fitz.

"Sorry," he sighs, holding his hands up between them.

Jemma simply sighs in response as she falls back against the back of her seat.

"I'm sure it won't be too long, Jemma. How many trains could possibly snowed in?"

"It's New York, Fitz," Jemma sighs loudly. "There are a lot of trains and there is a lot of snow."

"I was trying to be optimistic. Guess it didn't work," he says with a smiles as he looks over at Jemma.

"Not particularly," Jemma says, trying to keep the smile forcing its way onto her face at bay.

* * *

Hours later, the sun is setting outside the train as it still sits unmoving.

"Would either of you like something to eat or drink?"

Jemma looks up at the attendant's voice. "Do you have tea?" she asks as Fitz shakes his head beside her.

"Sorry, hun," the attendant whispers, turning and making her way to help the passengers in the row in front of them.

"Any luck?" Jemma asks as Fitz hangs up the phone he had been holding to his ear.

"Still no," Fitz huffs.

"Wonderful," Jemma exclaims. "Not only am I most likely missing my niece being born, but I can't even let my brother know because my phone died and you can't get any service."

"I'm sure they know you want to be there, Jemma," Fitz says gently, placing a hand on her arm as it rests between them.

"I'm sure they do but I still wanted to be there."

"I know you did, Jemma."

"Fitz… if you don't mind, I think I'm going to read a bit more to try and pass the time."

"Course, go ahead," Fitz sighs, reaching down to pull a notebook from his briefcase. He lowers the small folded table from the back of the seat in front of him before opening his notebook and resting it on the tray. He begins scribbling down the page, writing quickly and stopping several times to go back and cross things out. His frantic pace draws Jemma's attention. He notices as she looks over her book at his work a few times when she thinks he can't see, notices the way her eyes linger over the problems he's already solved.

Fitz continues working on his notes for a while, the whole time watching Jemma out of the corner of his eye. He watches as her pace slows, each page taking her longer to read than the last. He notices her eyes as they begin to droop, notices as she begins to lose her grip on her book. He notices when she finally falls asleep and the book lands on the floor with a soft thud. He looks at her more fully now, sees that she looks peaceful for the first time since he met her.

Fitz returns his attention to his work but he is pulled away from it once more when he feels a weight come to rest on his shoulder, pressuring the pen in the connected hand up the page. His eyes move down to see that the weight is coming from Jemma's head. He chuckles under his breath at the slightly disheveled edge the obviously neat girl has developed in her sleep, carefully capping his pen with his left hand so as not to disturb her. Without the option of focusing on his work, Fitz turns his attention toward the window and the scene beyond. He watches the still lightly falling snow until he begins to feel the pace of his breathing slow to match the woman's beside him and his eyes begin to feel heavy.

Fitz is slowly pulled from sleep when he hears a voice once again start speaking through the speakers. "... the plow will be finishing up shortly and we will finally be on our way." He looks around at the other passengers amidst a growing chorus of _finally_ s and _it's about time_ s before his eyes settle on Jemma. Her head is still resting on her shoulder, the only change in the scene before him the fact that Jemma's knees are now tucked against her chest.

Jemma stirs slightly and Fitz freezes. He only lets out the breath he didn't realize he was holding after Jemma stills again.

His efforts to keep from waking Jemma prove pointless, however, as just then, the train suddenly springs forward into motion throwing them both into the seats in front of them.

"Humph," Jemma grumbles, pushing her hands against the seat to right herself.

"Should I say good morning or would that be too much?" Fitz teases.

"Definitely too much," Jemma replies through slightly gritted teeth. Fitz merely chuckles in response.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the conductor announces that they are approaching the station. Jemma closes her book and begins to organize her things.

Fitz clears his throat and Jemma looks up to meet his eyes. "Well I guess this is it," he sighs. "We'll both be on our way to where we need to be in just a few short minutes."

"I have never been so happy to see a train station in my life," Jemma sighs.

"I'll bet," Fitz laughs softly as the train slows to a stop.

Fitz rise to his feet and lets Jemma step into the aisle before stepping back to pull his bag from its spot in storage. He turns around to say goodbye to Jemma but find the aisle filled with strangers instead.

Fitz collects his things and makes his way off the train and to the front of the station. There he finds a rather large empty space where the front of the taxi line usually waits and a veritable mob fighting to employ the remaining drivers.

He decides to sit back and wait as everyone else continues in their efforts. He watches as one-by-one, the remaining taxis are filled, the line quickly shrinking as they leave. He watches as the people crowding the line start to give up and go back into the station. He sits on the bench after they all leave but he gets up when he sees a familiar face step out of the door.

"Jemma," he calls out as he moves to his feet. He watches as she looks around before she spots him.

"Oh Fitz, is that you?" she sighs, beginning to make her way toward him.

"I thought you would've been one of the first to get a cab."

"I tried to find a place to charge my phone so i could call my brother. Not that he answered when I did," Jemma sighs.

They stand in silence a moment as they look down the road and around the station.

"Look," Jemma says after a moment watching the road. Fitz follows her gaze to find a cab heading for the station.

"You take it," Fitz says softly as Jemma looks back at him.

"But what about you?" Jemma asks.

"This is your niece. I'll figure something out," Fitz smiles.

"Thank you, really," Jemma huffs, gathering her bags off the ground.

"Course," Fitz says, collecting his own things before turning to go back into the station.

* * *

Jemma paces across the small floor of the elevator. This slow elevator merely the latest obstacle keeping her from meeting her new niece. It had started when she'd had to wait for a cab and it had only gotten worse as she realized during the ride that her driver had driven her the wrong way. She hears the elevator ding again and Jemma rushes out as soon as the doors open on the third floor of the hospital. She quickly scans her surroundings for someone to direct her to the right room. She finally spots the nurse's station and rushes to stand next to the man she sees standing in front of it.

"Excuse me," she calls out over the man next to her. "Can you help me? I'm looking for Daisy Johnson and Lincoln Campbell's room. Lincoln is my brother."

Jemma scoffs as the nurse ignores her and says something to the man.

"Excuse me," Jemma says more sharply. "I need to find my brother and sister-in-law's room."

"Didn't you hear me? I just told you both. You're looking for room 313," the nurse replies lazily, turning away to go back to her paperwork.

"Told us both?" Jemma whispers to no one in particular as she looks around for the man who was no longer standing beside her.

Jemma huffs as she pulls her bag more securely onto her shoulder before moving on. She walks slowly, carefully scanning the hallways for a sign of the room she is looking for.

She finally spots a door with the correct room number. She slowly pushes the door open and steps inside quietly. She turns and leaves her things on the floor. She stands up and turns back to face the room and what she sees stops her in her tracks.

"Fitz!" she exclaims as she meets his eyes.

"Shh," comes the reply from the three people in front of Jemma.

"She's sleeping," Fitz whispers, his eyes shooting down to the infant in his arms.

Jemma slowly crosses the room to stand between Fitz and her brother.

"What are you doing here?" she whispers sharply, meeting Fitz's eyes.

"Visiting my friend who just had a baby, and who I'd deduce is also your sister-n-law."

"How do you even know each other?" Daisy asks from the bed behind Jemma.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too," Lincoln adds.

"Oh well we don't- not really," Jemma stammers.

"We sat next to each other on the train into the city," Fitz adds. "And we got to talking while we were stuck."

"Right," Jemma says. "We just met on the train."

"Right," Daisy says, her eyes locked on Jemma and her smile turning up into a smirk.

The room is silent a few moments as its occupants simply exchange looks with each other.

"I think," Fitz sighs. "I'm going to go out into the hall and call the office."

Fitz slowly steps around Lincoln and Jemma to gently place the baby in his arms into the cradle next to Daisy's bed before grabbing his jacket from the chair next to the door and stepping into the hallway.

"So Jem," Daisy teases the moment the door clicks closed.

"Don't start Daisy," Jemma huffs, turning to face her.

"You should know it's too late for that, Jem," Daisy laughs softly, pushing herself to sit up straighter. "Now spill," she says, patting the side of her bed.

"There's nothing to spill, Daisy, really," Jemma sighs, sitting down next to Daisy.

"Mmhmm. Well you should probably tell your face that" Daisy replies, her smirk growing.

"What are you talking about?" Jemma asks sharply.

"You blushed the second you recognized him."

"I did not blush! Why would I blush? I have no reason to have blushed."

"Jemma. You blushed," Daisy retorts. "Didn't she blush, Lincoln? Help me out here," Daisy directs, glaring past Jemma to Lincoln.

Lincoln hesitates, turning his face away from his sister's now piercing glare.

"C'mon, Lincoln," Daisy chides. Lincoln moves his arms to cross in front of his chest as he slowly looks between Daisy and Jemma, both of them able to read his thoughts in his eyes. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place, or in this case, his sister and his wife, and he is not happy about the situation.

"You _did_ blush a bit, Jem," Lincoln mumbles with an apologetic half-shrug.

"I really don't think-"

"Face it Jemma. You like Fitz."

"Right," Jemma says sharply, pushing herself off the bed. "You two have clearly had a long day so I'm going to let you rest while I get something to eat," she finishes with one hand reaching for the door while she uses the other to get her bag from the floor before stepping into the hallway.

Jemma wanders the halls a bit before finding her way to the hospital cafeteria. She steps inside and slowly looks around at the meager options. She is standing in front of one of the counters when she hears someone step behind her and stop just beyond her view.

Jemma turns slowly, just enough to catch a glimpse of the person behind her, and sighs as she recognizes him.

"You're back," Jemma sighs meeting Fitz's eyes. "Are you following me or something?" Jemma laughs.

"Actually I believe _you're_ the one following me. You were the one that showed up after me twice today, afterall."

"I guess I can't argue with that," Jemma laughs shifting her weight and fidgeting with her hair.

"Look," Fitz stammers, scratching at his ear as he looks away from Jemma. "Do you you believe in fate?"

"Well no, not really," Jemma says quietly.

"Well I don't either, not if I'm being honest. But," he pauses, locking his eyes with hers. "When I keep running into someone like this, I can't help but think I need to take the hint," he finishes with a shy smile.

"Take the hint?" Jemma questions.

"The hint that I'm supposed to do something about _this_ ," Fitz clarifies, gesturing between them.

"I didn't know there was a _this_ ," Jemma replies, mirroring his gesture.

 _Was there a this? Did she want there to be a this?_ Jemma looks Fitz over starting with his humble posture, passing over his curly hair and ending with the shy, nervous smile filling his face. He certainly has been nice since they met, few people are as easy for her to talk to as he was. And he's smart, the little work he had done on the train was enough to show her that. And for once she'd met a guy who didn't seem to want to play games, someone who just said what they were thinking.

"Well I was hoping we could change that… maybe over dinner," Fitz says quietly, his eyes darting to the floor, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I really don't know when I could- I mean with missing more work than I was supposed to because of the snow I'll most likely have to be in the lab at night for a while but maybe-" Jemma rambles, the result of being forced to pull her thoughts together quickly..

"Maybe we could have lunch instead," Fitz interrupts. "Here I mean, since we're both already missing work and all."

Jemma looks around the cafeteria, it's hardly her idea of a good first date location but Fitz is right, it would fix the timing issue. She looks back at Fitz to find a shy smile filling his face, the same one that had been there when he had let her take the last available cab.

 _How much trouble could one little lunch cause?_

"Ok sure," Jemma finally replies with a smile. "I'm not sure how edible the food here is going to be but we can certainly try."

Jemma follows as Fitz makes his way to one of the counters, each of them picking a few items from the buffet, before turning back towards the tables but she stops when she feels her phone buzzing in her purse against her hip.

"Oh hold on," she whispers, balancing her tray in order to pull her phone out and press it against her ear.

The conversation is short, nothing more than a few _ok_ s and _sure_ s reaching Fitz's ears before Jemma hangs up a few moments later.

"That was my brother," Jemma says, her answer to the question in his eyes.

"Everything ok?" Fitz asks, setting his tray on the table between them.

"Daisy's decided she's hungry and I'm sure you know how she can get when she needs to eat," Jemma continues returning her phone to the pocket of her purse.

"That I do," Fitz replies with a soft laugh.

"I hate to end lunch before we've even sat down but I should probably get some food up to her," Jemma says.

"Yeah," Fitz sighs, his smile fading as he looks away from Jemma.

"I would still like to see you again," Jemma rushes to add. "So long as you aren't too mad at me for bailing on you now."

"I suppose considering the circumstances, I can let it slide," Fitz sighs.

"Here," Jemma announces reaching to pull a napkin from the container on the table before reaching into her purse for a pen. Fitz watches as Jemma quickly scribbles something on the napkin before holding it out in the space between them. "My number," she says, matter of factly. "I'll be home by tomorrow night. You can call me and we can make a new plan."

"What about work?" Fitz asks, taking the napkin from her hand.. "I thought you said you'd have to work overtime for a while."

"We'll figure something out. Maybe you can meet me at the lab, consult on a project or something," Jemma smiles moving to pack up the food on her tray.

"I think I'd like that," Fitz replies, pushing the napkin into his pocket. "So I'll call you tomorrow night?" Fitz asks hesitantly, Jemma's phone starting to ring again just as he finishes speaking.

"Yes tomorrow night," Jemma smiles, pulling her phone out and checking the screen. "This time, it's Daisy. She's probably calling to tell me she's about to starve to death" Jemma says with a short laugh. "I should probably get this upstairs." Her smile widens as her phone goes silent.

"Go," Fitz laughs. "We don't want Daisy to starve."

Jemma sighs as her phone starts to go off again but she smiles at Fitz one last time as she answers and holds it to her ear.

"I know Daisy. I'm coming," Jemma says into her phone as smiles at Fitz one last time as she exits the cafeteria and leaves him behind.

(For now.)


End file.
